Additive manufacturing system

Abstract

There is disclosed a method of determining regions for an additive manufacturing system comprising a plurality of printer agents, wherein each of the printer agents is associated with a workspace, and wherein the printer agents are arranged so that at least one pair of adjacent printer agents has intersecting workspaces, the method comprising: identifying a layer of a part; determining a plurality of separate regions associated with the layer, wherein each region is assigned to one of the printer agents; and outputting the plurality of regions.

1 . A method of determining regions for an additive manufacturing system comprising a plurality of printer agents, wherein each of the printer agents is associated with a workspace, and wherein the printer agents are arranged so that at least one pair of adjacent printer agents has intersecting workspaces, the method comprising:
 identifying a layer of a part;   determining a plurality of separate regions associated with the layer, wherein each region is assigned to one of the printer agents; and   outputting the plurality of regions;   wherein a dimension of each region is equal to and/or greater than a minimum possible separation between the printer agents adjacent said region.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising determining the regions such that a dimension of each region is equal to and/or greater than a minimum possible separation between each printer agent with a workspace that includes at least a part of said region. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the minimum possible separation between printer agents is dependent on one or more of: a property of the printer agents; a dimension of the printer agents; and a user input. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein outputting the regions comprises one or more of:
 transmitting the regions to the additive manufacturing system;   printing the regions; and   determining toolpaths for each of the printer agents in dependence on the regions and outputting the toolpaths.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising one or more of:
 assigning each of the regions to a single printer agent;   assigning a plurality of regions to one or more of the printer agents;   assigning a plurality of regions to each of the printer agents; and   assigning the same number of regions to each of the printer agents.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of the regions is associated with a printing step, wherein the associated printer agent is arranged to print the material in said region during said printing step, wherein, for each printing step, each printer agent is assigned to a region, preferably to a single region. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , comprising determining an order of the printing steps and outputting the order. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the regions and the printing steps are determined so that, for each printing step, each of the regions printed during said printing step is separated by at least one other region. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising determining the regions in dependence on one or more of:
 an area of material within each of said regions;   a contribution of the printer agents;   a movement of the printer agents;   a material usage of the printer agents; and   a printing time of the printer agents.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising determining the regions:
 so as to minimise the total printing time and/or so as to minimise the printing time for one of the printing steps; and/or   so as to minimise the maximum printing time of a printer agent and/or so as to minimise the maximum printing time of a printer agent for each of the printing steps; and/or   so as to minimise a movement of the printer agents and/or so as to minimise a material usage of the printer agents.   
     
     
         11 . (canceled) 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the regions comprises determining the regions such that each region is located entirely within the workspace of one of the printer agents. 
     
     
         13 . (canceled) 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising assigning a number of regions to each printer agent that is:
 dependent on a dimensionality of a configuration of the printer agents and/or that is equal to and/or greater than to the number of printer agents multiplied by two to the power of the number of dimensions of the arrangement of the agents; and/or   equal to and/or greater than the number of printer agents multiplied by two; and/equal to and/or greater than the number of printer agents multiplied by four.   
     
     
         15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising determining a configuration of printer agents and/or an optimal configuration of printer agents. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising determining the regions in dependence on an overlap parameter, wherein the overlap parameter is dependent on one or more of: a user input; a type of material being used by the printer agents; and a geometry of the part and/or of a layer of the part. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 identifying a first region of a first layer of the part, the first region being associated with a first printer agent; and   determining a second region for a second layer of the part in dependence on the second region of the second layer overlapping the first region of the first layer, the second region being associated with a second printer agent.   
     
     
         19 .- 46 . (canceled) 
     
     
         47 . An apparatus for determining regions for an additive manufacturing system comprising a plurality of printer agents, wherein each of the printer agents is associated with a workspace, and wherein the printer agents are arranged so that at least one pair of adjacent printer agents has intersecting workspaces, the apparatus comprising:
 a processor for:   identifying a layer of a part; and   determining a plurality of separate regions associated with the layer, wherein each region is assigned to one of the printer agents; and   a user interface and/or a communication interface for outputting the plurality of regions;   wherein a dimension of each region is equal to and/or greater than a minimum possible separation between the printer agents adjacent said region.   
     
     
         48 .- 50 . (canceled) 
     
     
         51 . A system comprising:
 an additive manufacturing system comprising a plurality of printer agents, wherein each of the printer agents is associated with a workspace, and wherein the printer agents are arranged so that at least one pair of adjacent printer agents has intersecting workspaces; and   the apparatus of claim  47 .   
     
     
         52 .- 61 . (canceled) 
     
     
         62 . The method of  claim 16 , comprising determining a configuration of printer agents from a set of possible configurations. 
     
     
         63 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the printer agents are reconfigurable so as to change the workspaces associated with the printer agents. 
     
     
         64 . The method of  claim 63 , comprising:
 identifying a plurality of layers of a part; and   for each layer of the plurality of layers:
 determining a configuration of the printer agents based on the geometry of the layer, the configuration being determined such that at least one pair of adjacent printer agents has intersecting workspaces; and 
 determining a plurality of separate regions associated with the layer, wherein: 
 each region is assigned to a single one of the printer agents; 
 each region is associated with a single printing step, wherein the printer agent to which each region is assigned is arranged to print the material in that region during the associated printing step; and 
 the regions and the printing steps are determined so that, for each printing step, each of the regions assigned to be printed during said printing step are separated by at least one other region; and 
 outputting the plurality of regions.